Thoughts from my studio about artwork; new pieces as well as those things that have have remained hidden in my flat file...

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Open Studio: Return from the Artist Residency

Open Studio (Reston, VA): Saturday September 26 from 4-9pm.Please email me for directions and parking information: johnmadams75@yahoo.comLight refreshments and beverages will be served.

As I said in my last post a month ago, it might be a awhile until I got back from my three week residency at "The Church", the former studio/summer home of Jules Kirschenbaum. I was right. It was one of the most powerful experiences of my life. I had never spent that much time in almost total isolation, just focusing on painting. My days quickly melded together into what for a while seemed to be an endless continuum of creation, punctuated ever so slightly by a simple meal and sleep. Of course to no detriment there were also extended periods of reading, and just sitting there, looking and thinking. It all just became one big powerful thing that is hard to describe, but that is what the artwork is for...and there is plenty of it. I came home with 34 paintings that are nearly finished and will be complete by the open studio, that's not counting the other 8 (or is it 9?) that are in earlier stages. I developed more pieces for the Sitting Still Series and work in new formats and sizes. I hope you will join me for the open studio on September 26, 2009 to see the new work.By this open studio, I will have also met one of my personal goals for 2009, which was to create at least one painting a week for the entire year (not an easy thing to do when and individual painting takes weeks to months to complete due to the my process layering 15-30 separate colors on top of each other, removing portions of layers as I add them). In fact I will have already exceeded that with three more months left to paint in 2009. More to come - see you at the open studio.Below are a few images from the location, to give you a sense of the environment at "The Church". I will post images of the new paintings on my website after the open studio.

Evening, the first night I was there, this kind of view was par for the course from the deck each evening, but the weather patterns changed rapidly, so I was always in for a surprise.

A side view of "The Church". It was built in 1901 and was originally a Methodist chapel in the mountains of northeastern, PA. Jules Kirschenbaum and his wife Corneilus were both painters from NYC, and they bought "The Church" around 1960, converting it into a summer studio/home with multiple studio spaces (which I had all to myself). The main studio, shown in the photo at the top of this post, is in what was originally the sanctuary of the church.

"The Church" tucked into a stand of trees on the side of Bunnell Hill. Ah, no distractions.

More Artwork from Adams

About Me

John M. Adams is an artist living in Reston, VA, just outside of Washington DC. He maintains a studio in Arlington. His work has won numerous awards and accolades, including a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Graduate Fellowship and multiple juror awards. Public Collections of his work include the Arlington County Small Works Collection, as well as the 8 pieces in the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, including 6 pieces in the City Hall Art Collection (the John A. Wilson Building). His recent solo exhibition at the Arlington Art Center and Site Specific Wall Drawing at Artomatic 2007 won praise from The Washington Post Film/Art Critic Michael O'Sullivan.